Vicia cracca L.
Tufted Vetch (American vetch; bird vetch)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Tufted Vetch (American vetch; bird vetch)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Vicia cracca ssp. cracca
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb; stems climbing or trailing, up to 2 m long, finely short-hairy to glabrous, angled and somewhat grooved.
Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound; leaflets 12 to 24, linear to lance-elliptic, abruptly narrowed to a pointed tip, 1-3 cm long; tendrils well developed, branched, grasping; stipules entire to toothed, 7-15 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an axillary, long-stalked, one-sided raceme of 20 to 70 densely packed, drooping, pea-like flowers, the racemes longer than the supporting stalks; corollas blue to reddish-purple, two-toned dark and pale, (8) 10-15 mm long; calyces 1/2 as long as the corollas, gradually rounded or slightly swollen at the base on the upper side, the tube 2-3 mm long, the upper pair of teeth short and triangular, the lower 3 much longer and narrower.
Fruits:
Pods, 1.5-3 cm long, glabrous; seeds 4 to 8.
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Black
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Vicia cracca
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
604 | 0 | 1012 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
18 | 0 | 65 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
281 | 120 | 335 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 1 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
14 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
PP | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
CWH(2), ICH(1), IDF(1), PP(8) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||